The Republican National Convention came to Cleveland this week, and I could not be more proud of my city. Thank you to Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams and the officers he leads, as well as the hundreds of law enforcement officers from across the country who came to Cleveland this week to help make this a safe, demonstrative, and enjoyable event. Thank you also to Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson, and the local and RNC Planning committees. The city was prepared, organized, and shining! I went down to Public Square and East 6th Street on Tuesday, where much of the outdoor activities took place. There were demonstrators of all ilks and persuasions, as well as thousands of Convention attendees taking in our fair city. The feedback that I have read has been overwhelmingly and greatly positive. I made sure to thank the law enforcement officers that I came across, just for being there and for keeping everyone safe. Proud to be a Clevelander!

[10 photos]
Hidden in a heavily overgrown urban meadow on Cleveland’s West 53rd street, just south of Interstate 90– another abandoned factory of yesterday. Built in 1920, the brick structure was part of the Joseph & Feiss Company, a clothing manufacturer famous for it’s Clothcraft brand high quality $15 blue serge suits.

Today, lost in an undeveloped former industrial area, secluded along the railroad tracks, the long-closed facility has become a stopping point for an “underground culture” of urban graffiti artists, gangs, and the homeless seeking shelter. Although attempts have been made to board-up the entrances and smashed out windows, I did discover a passageway inside. But not on this trip– I wasn’t dressed for the “dirty work” it would take to get in… and what/who would I find once I got inside? Maybe another time!

A collection of 17 photos I took of the historic Warner & Swasey Company factory building located at 5701 Carnegie Avenue near E. 55th Street, on Cleveland’s east side. I snuck into the old building on my lunch hour one day and climbed to the top in amazement.

The factory was built in 1881 and was the fruition of owners Worcester P. Warner and Ambrose Swasey. The factory produced turret lathes, but was more famous for it’s precision astronomical telescopes and other optical instruments.

In 1886, the largest telescope in the world, at that time, was created at this site for the Lick Observatory in California. Other Warney and Swasey telescopes were produced for the United States Naval Observatory, the McDonald Observatory at the University of Texas at Austin, the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory, in Canada, and the Yerkes Observatory in Wisconsin, to name just a few.

Because the turret lathes were far more profitable to make, this is what the company concentrated on in the 20th Century. By World War II, employing over 7,000 people, over half of all such lathes produced in the United States were manufactured in Cleveland by Warner and Swasey.

The beautiful structure has been ransacked over the years following it’s closure in 1983. The walk through to the top was fascinating, knowing the work that had been done there, and the age of the structure. The city is going through a 3 Million Dollar remediation project funded by the Federal Government to clean up and restore the old Warner & Swasey factory, but these days, from the evidence that I saw, not much has been done (or even started.) Eventually it is hoped that the facility can be refurbished into new offices, labs, and warehouse space and play a vital role in the continual development of Cleveland’s Health-Tech Corridor.

Interior photographs taken May 13, 2014
Exterior facade photographs taken May 21, 2014

On the eastern exterior wall of the Superior Building, on Rockwell Avenue in downtown Cleveland– the mural “Life Is Sharing the Same Park Bench” by artist John F. Morrell. Morrell who painted this mural for the city in 1969, died at the age of 77 in 2010.

And for comparison purposes, the last picture in this 4 picture set– taken by an unnamed photographer in the early 1950’s (courtesy of The Chesler Group.)

At the northwest corner of Detroit Avenue and West 29th Street, on Cleveland’s near-west side, sits a refurbished relic from days gone by… Originally built in 1895 to house the Cleveland Steel Range Company, and later a different company that produced pistons for automobiles and airplane engines, the Van Rooy Coffee Company purchased and moved into the Romanesque-Revival style industrial building in 1935. The company provided “Hotel Quality” roasted Arabica coffee beans from Brazil and around the world as well as teas and spices from The Orient, and quickly developed a “second-to-none” reputation for the highest quality of products. The Van Rooy Coffee Company, still in operation, moved from this building in 2003, to a site just outside Cleveland. The old Van Rooy Building is listed both on the National Register of Historic Places and the Cleveland Landmark Registry.

I was lucky enough to bring in the new year, 2012, at this fantastic Irish Pub– called, “The Treehouse,” but never a St. Patty’s Day… not yet at least!

Located in the heart of Cleveland’s Tremont neighborhood, at the northeast corner of Professor and College Avenues, the original structure was completed in 1900. After a variety of different uses over the years, the Treehouse opened for business in 1996 and has been a “must do” entertainment spot along Professor, ever since.

Inside the Jameson and Guinness flow and the crowd arrives nightly. The sizable bar service area is Canopied by a huge tree, with branches extending out over nearly the whole bar area.

I am thinking a pint of Guinness Stout after work today may be in order! Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

A billboard on the side of this building at 2541 Carnegie Avenue in downtown– Cleveland: the home of world class healthcare, AND the birthplace of “Rock and Roll!”

In the mural, a play on words… and some simple directions. To the left, several city blocks north: the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. And to the right, one of Cleveland’s many excellent hospitals: the St. Vincent Charity Medical Center, just a few blocks south.

*As a side note: Bo Diddley was inducted into the Rock Hall in 1987– The New York Dolls… Hopefully one day!

A mural on the west-facing wall of the historic Karamu House theater at E. 89th Street, in Cleveland’s east side Fairfax neighborhood. The person depicted in the mural is famed alumnus of the Karamu House, actress Ruby Dee. The 40-by-36-foot mural was completed in July of 2013 by nationally acclaimed muralist Kent Twitchell, with help from several local artists and volunteers.

The Sherwin-Williams Company, home to Sherwin-Williams Paints, was founded by Henry Sherwin and Edward Williams in Cleveland, Ohio in 1866. Still internationally headquartered here, S-W’s is a strong player in the cultural fabric of Cleveland. This mural, across the street from Quicken Loans Arena in downtown, where the NBA Cleveland Cavs play, is but one shining example. I do believe most of the items painted in this Cleveland depiction, are featured as photographs in this blog. “…try to click with what you got…”

The Cleveland Public Power Plant (formerly the Municipal Light Plant) sits on the shores of Lake Erie, near downtown Cleveland. The artwork “The Song of the Whales” painted by artist Robert Wyland, was completed in 1997, and is one of many “Whaling Walls” that the artist has rendered. The Cleveland example is number 75 in his “collection” of 90 such mural paintings nationally. The dimensions of the art, which is readily viewable from I-90 heading into downtown, is 300 feet long, and 108 feet high. Definitely a site to see when visiting the city!

An exterior wall to the Market Garden Brewery, located on West 25th Street, next to the West Side Market, in Ohio City – Cleveland, Ohio. The wall is complete with a “mail” box attached filled with chalk for adding your answer!

One of the million-and-one interesting things you can find on the streets of the Big Easy… Here, at 228 Decatur Street in the French Quarter, New Orleans, the aging “Emerson’s Ginger Mint Julep” hand painted exterior advertising mural from days of old.